One of South Korea’s most popular fried chicken chains has made its way to San Francisco.
Better & Happier Choice Chicken, known as BHC Chicken, soft-opened its first Bay Area location inside Asian specialty grocer H Mart’s food court at the start of May. The global brand brought its franchise to Los Angeles in 2023 and has since opened in cities such as San Diego and states such as New Jersey and Georgia.
“We are happy,” owner Tee Lum Chow said. “The response of most people and how enthusiastic they are regarding the brand, the product, it’s pretty exciting.”
Their soft opening menu includes chicken wings that come in orders of five, ten or 16 pieces, tenders that come in orders of four, eight and 12 pieces, and a five-piece tenders and eight-piece wings combo box. Sauce options include classic fried, hot fried, their popular bburinkle, a cheesy, onion and garlic powder and hot bburinkle with a sweet and spicy option exclusive for the wings. Prices range from $10.99 to $34.99.
They also serve tender-based chicken sandwiches that come with mayo and pickles in either classic fried, bburinkle, or hot bburinkle options for $10.99. The wings, tenders, and sandwich options can also be upgraded to combos that include French fries and a drink for an additional $7.99.
Outside of chicken options, this location serves k-food like kimchi fried rice and veggie fried rice for $16.99 and sides like cheese balls in plain or bburinkle, french fries in plain or bburinkle, potato wedges, coleslaw, and pickled radish with prices ranging from $1.99 to $8.99. They also have a variety of dipping sauces like bburinkle mayo, sweet habanero and matcho king, among others, for $1.49.
“I’m loving it,” employee Dominique Kendall said about working for the new location. “I really love our sauces,” she added. “We have really good chicken.”
Prior to opening, Chow shared how he was able to tour the headquarters location in Los Angeles and speak with its franchiser. He said he was blown away by the food and atmosphere and hopes to bring a similar experience to the San Francisco location.
Part of that experience is maintaining consistency. Chow said he’s always looking for ways they can improve, and first on his list is getting all the missing items on their menu that are currently covered by a “coming soon” sign, like spicy and rose tteokbokki served with ramen noodles.
Once they perfect the San Francisco location, Chow hopes to branch out to other spots in the Bay Area, like San Jose.
“We always want to deliver consistency and quality above everything else,” Chow said. “At least that is my goal here.”
BHC Chicken
Address: 3995 Alemany Blvd. #3001
Hours: Daily, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Visit the ordering website
